Letter: Give East Side a chance by investing in terminal

Give East Side a chance by investing in terminal

I am outraged over the attitudes toward the Central Terminal expressed in the paper on Dec. 12. Some say the landmark is not worth investment because the neighborhood around it has become a deep pocket of poverty.

How about taking a very different tack, doing a 180? How about investing in the East Side, where thousands of people live and work, and where thousands of people would like to work? Let’s invest in the East Side and give it a chance. Begin with the Central Terminal building. Next, let’s link the terminal to the East Side and the airport with a light-rail extension – built with federal funding. Let’s encourage the efforts of the Broadway-Fillmore Alive group (see models for success on the West Side), so that the East Side may rise like a phoenix from its ashes and become a place that attracts people.

Does Buffalo want to be known as a poverty-stricken city? Or does Buffalo want to eradicate poverty? Band-Aids are nice, but they do not remove poverty. However, investments in local places connected by excellent transit will provide opportunity for people to climb out of poverty.